Apparatus and Method for Right/Left Hand Orientation of a Dual Panel Electronic Device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device includes a processor, a first touch screen displaying a page for reading and a second touch screen displaying a pad for writing. An object transition module is executed by the processor. The object transition module includes executable instructions to detect a rotational input applied to the pad. The pad is rotated in accordance with the rotational input, while the original orientation of the page is maintained.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/396,789 filed Jun. 1, 2010, entitled “Electronic Device for Education”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to generally to electronic devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a dual panel electronic device configurable for right/left handed writing in one panel and constant orientation reading in a second panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of electronic devices for both reading and writing has become increasingly popular. Electronic devices with dual displays are known. When such a device is used as a reader, the screen is typically positioned vertically for comfort and ease of use. When the same electronic device is used for writing, however, the most comfortable position may not be vertical. For example, when writing on paper, a writer commonly places the paper at an angle. For a single display device this may not pose a problem since the entire device can be rotated to the most comfortable position. However, for a dual display device, it is less convenient to rotate the entire device for several reasons. First, the larger size of the device may make it uncomfortable to use in a rotated position. In addition, it is possible that one screen of the display may be utilized for reading at the same time that the other screen is utilized for writing. In this situation, it would be desirable to keep the screen utilized for reading in a vertical orientation, while the screen utilized for writing is at an angle. Another complication is that user preference, included handedness, will determine the desirable rotation for writing.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dual panel electronic device that addresses the foregoing issues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An electronic device includes a processor, a first touch screen displaying a page for reading and a second touch screen displaying a pad for writing. An object transition module is executed by the processor. The object transition module includes executable instructions to detect a rotational input applied to the pad. The pad is rotated in accordance with the rotational input, while the original orientation of the page is maintained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of an electronic device with a dual display.

FIG. 2 is a view of a dual display electronic device configured for right-handed writing.

FIG. 3 is a view of a dual display electronic device configured for left-handed writing.

FIG. 4 is a view of a dual display electronic device responsive to a twist gesture to orient a page for writing.

FIG. 5 is an electronic device configured in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device 100 with a first touch screen 102 and a second touch screen 104. The screens are attached by at least one hinge 106. In this example, the first touch screen 102 displays a page 108 for reading, while the second touch screen 104 displays a notepad or pad 110 that can accept input from a stylus, finger pen or the like.

In the default orientation of the device in FIG. 1, writing on notepad 110 can be uncomfortable. If the entire device shown in FIG. 1 is rotated to a position comfortable for writing, it may no longer be comfortable to read page 108.

To allow for both comfortable reading of the page 108 on screen 102 and writing on pad 110 of screen 104, the pad 110 can be rotated independent of the device. For example, for a right-handed user, the most comfortable position may be the page 110 rotated 15 degrees counter clockwise, as shown in FIG. 2. For a left-handed user, the most comfortable position may be the pad 110 rotated 15 degrees clockwise, as shown in FIG. 3. Observe in FIG. 3 that the pad 110 is on the first screen 102 for the convenience of the left-handed user. A user setting for handedness on the device can make the appropriate rotated position the default for writing applications. Similarly, a user setting may establish whether the pad 110 appears on the first screen 102 or the second screen 104.

In one embodiment of the invention, the amount of rotation of the page of an application that accepts input from a stylus, finger, pen or the like can be controlled by a gesture, such as a twisting motion shown in FIG. 4. In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates a hand 400 making a counter-clockwise gesture, as shown with arrow 402. The page 108 rotates with the twisting gesture. The amount of the twist corresponds to the amount of rotation of the page. A release of the twist gesture leaves the page at the rotated position. When using a gesture to return to a default position, a tolerance can be used such that releasing the twist gesture within the tolerance of the default position returns the page to the default position. Other gestures besides the twist gesture can be used to rotate the page. Consequently, the invention is not limited to any particular gesture. In addition, the amount of rotation can be controlled through a manual input such as through a menu control, system setting or other touch or non-touch input.

Once the pad has been rotated, the user can comfortably modify and store the modified version of the pad. For example, a user could use a stylus or other device to write notes on the pad 108. The annotated pad could then be saved for reading at a later time.

FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic device 500 configured in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The electronic device 500 includes a processor 510 connected to a set of input/output devices 512 via a bus 514. The input/output devices 512 include at least two touch screens. In addition, the input/output devices 512 may include a keyboard, mouse, speaker, printer and the like. A network interface circuit 516 is also connected to the bus 514 so that the electronic device 500 may operate in a networked environment. A memory 520 is also connected to the bus. The memory 520 includes executable instructions to implement operations of the invention. For example, an object transition module 522 includes executable instructions to implement operations described throughout this specification and accompanying figures.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer storage product with a computer readable storage medium having computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. The media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include: magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute program code, such as application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), programmable logic devices (“PLDs”) and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, an embodiment of the invention may be implemented using JAVA®, C++, or other object-oriented programming language and development tools. Another embodiment of the invention may be implemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with, machine-executable software instructions.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed; obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention. 

1. An electronic device, comprising: a processor; a first touch screen displaying a page for reading; a second touch screen displaying a pad for writing; and on object transition module executed by the processor, the object transition module including executable instructions to: detect a rotational input applied to the pad, rotate the pad in accordance with the rotational input, and maintain the orientation of the page.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising executable instructions to accept input that modifies the pad to form modified pad content.
 3. The electronic device of claim 2 further comprising executable instructions to store the modified pad content.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1 wherein the rotational input is a touch gesture formed with a multiple finger rotation.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1 further comprising a handedness setting specifying a degree of rotation.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5 further comprising executable instructions to rotate the pad in accordance with the degree of rotation. 